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Louis de Broglie - Facts

Affiliation at the time of the award:Sorbonne University, Institut Henri Poincaré, Paris, France

Prize motivation: "for his discovery of the wave nature of electrons"

Field: quantum mechanics

Prize share: 1/1

Work

In the beginning of the 20th century, quantum physics evolved from the idea that energy is conveyed in only certain fixed amounts. An early finding indicated that light can be regarded as both waves and particles. In 1924 Louis de Broglie introduced the idea that particles, such as electrons, could be described not only as particles but also as waves. This was substantiated by the way streams of electrons were reflected against crystals and spread through thin metal foils. The idea had great significance for the continued evolution of quantum mechanics.